


Short on Time

by DoveFanworks



Series: Borrower!Prom [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Borrower!AU, Gen, borrower!Prom, fics written seconds before disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-11 15:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19542424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoveFanworks/pseuds/DoveFanworks
Summary: “Specs, what the hell am I looking at?”“This... is what I received from the security camera today.”“...”“...”“Holy shit.”





	Short on Time

**Author's Note:**

> I barfed this out in a single evening then cut it off right before the action happens have fun lads!  
> Tried a more experimental style with this one, and it's only a short one as a result, next one is likely gonna be longer>:3c

Prompto knew something was up when Specs appeared that night.

“Noct,” he said, voice tight, “would you mind coming with me for a drive?”

The request itself wasn’t odd, but coming from the taller bean, to a guy that seemed to loathe any kind of physical activity, it was unusual.

Prompto paused where he was rummaging through the various, giant jars in the cupboard over the bench, the dim light giving him just enough of a visual to make out what was in each of them. He was in search of the hot chocolate powder, because winter was coming and he’d be damned if he didn’t have a stock of that stuff to get him through the harsher evenings.

He listened carefully, waiting to see if either would come too close to where he was for comfort, glancing back at the small hole he had crawled out from, usually hidden behind a long forgotten box of corn flour. It was still open, ready in case he had to make a break for it.

Luckily however, it seemed that whatever the issue was didn’t concern anything in the kitchen, and Noct gave in with surprisingly little resistance, given how unenthused he normally was about pretty much everything. It must have been something on Iggy’s face, something he couldn’t see within the gloom of the cupboard that spoke of something truly serious. He idly hoped no one the bean’s knew were hurt or anything, he might not have really known them at all but that didn’t mean he wished any ill on them.

There was a lot of shuffling and stomping about as he assumed Noct grabbed his things, then the sound of the front door opening and closing before silence dominated the apartment again. Prompto waited, blinking in the dark for a few long moments just to make sure he was truly alone, before shaking himself and continuing to squeeze between the various jars and boxes, swiftly forgetting the odd occurrence when his hands finally fell on the container of cocoa powder.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Specs, what the hell am I looking at?”

“This... is what I received from the security camera today.”

“...”

“...”

“Holy shit.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The atmosphere in the apartment was kind of weird when they returned later that afternoon, and Prompto could only assume that whatever had happened was bigger than he had first thought. Despite his best snooping however, he couldn’t even begin to discern what exactly it was. The beans were tight-lipped and high-strung, glancing about whenever things grew quiet like they expected an attack.

He was loathe to admit that it was starting to make him jumpy too. What the hell was going on? 

Instinctively, he grew a bit more cautious, watching for signs that anything was amiss. But, aside from the strange new alertness of the humans, nothing had changed. He watched silently from the bowl of the living room ceiling light as Specs did sweeps of the room, almost like a routine. Every couple of minutes he would pause in his food preparation and carefully glance about, far too sharp eyes raking across the room like he was just waiting for some nasty beast to come leaping out at him.

Prompto felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise every time he passed beneath his hiding spot, and he knew he’d have to scurry back into the roof soon, before it got dark enough for them to flick the light on. 

It was the not knowing that was getting to him more than anything else, but for the life of him he just couldn’t find anything that warranted all this anxiety, which only made him even more anxious. 

‘Oh gods please tell me they aren’t thinking of bringing an animal home,’ he thought miserably, slipping back down the line of cables towards his little den, finally having given up on finding any answers tonight.

Feverishly examining the home, checking things over and over again, probably plotting where to place things for a potential pet. He couldn’t confirm it of course, but the thought alone filled him with dread, and his mind was filled with only a single thought as he slipped beneath his blanket that night and waited for sleep to claim him.

Please not a cat.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Gladio, for the last time, we are not bloody setting a trap.”

“Why the hell not? It’s been living in the Prince’s house for gods knows how lo-”

“He!”

“Ugh, you don’t even know that.”

“We didn’t even know he existed until yesterday, so it’s not like he’s been trying to do anything to me.”

“You mean aside from stealing your food, snooping around your home and watching your tv all day?”

“I don’t think he means any harm…”

“He still shouldn’t be there Princess, I’m not sayin’ we hurt him or anything just, y’know, make sure he can’t disappear on us as soon as we start talkin’ to him.”

“Look at him Gladio! He couldn’t be older than Noct, he’s barely the height of my hand, we are not setting a damn trap for him.”

“Right… so how the hell do you think we’re gonna get him to talk to us then?”

“Well, he clearly knows when no one’s home right? He appeared when I was at school and the tv was off when I got in.”

“Your point?”

“Why don’t we just… go in when he thinks we won’t?”

“...”

“...”

“If we do this, we will need to move fast… and be very gentle.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When Prompto slipped the kitchen tile aside on Tuesday the strange white box was on the counter again, but this time, the big black dot was turned towards him. He stopped in the hole, grip tightening on the rough edge of the grout as he stared at it, an uneasy feeling he couldn’t explain making the muscles in his jaw tense.

Something was wrong, and he had no idea what.

After long, silent half minute of careful thought, he quietly shuffled back into the wall, sliding the tile perfectly back into place. 

He didn’t know what was going on, but if something was about to go down, he would skip the tv for the day and play it safe. 

Especially if one of those beans was planning on walking through that door with any animal larger than a canary.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Shit, you don’t think he’s on to us do you?”

“It is more than likely that he has a number of entrances hidden around the house, he may well have simply come out in another part of the apartment.”

“Looks like this plan’s botched then.”

“Hmm, maybe not just yet, let’s give it a couple more days, he may well just be picking up on our own body language, we were both on our toes last night.”

“Maybe…”

“You’d just need a line of flypaper-”

“There will be no traps, Gladiolus!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Noct leaves for school that morning like any other day and the apartment goes quiet. Save for the familiar hum of the fridge and the distant, constant rumble of the immense world beyond. His stomach feels strange, clenching and roiling like it can’t tell whether to toss up the meager breakfast he’d had or continue begging for more.

Despite the normalcy of it, that off feeling hangs around like a stench and it was really starting to do things to his heart. 

As much as he longs to sneak out to the oh so inviting television screen, he forces himself to stock up on essentials from the pantry instead, hauling off a sugar cube and a whole teabag and stowing them in the dented old biscuit tin that serves as his own storage room.

One more day, just to be sure.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Nothing again.”

“Bet he’s long gone, must’ve realised it was a camera.”

“No, I don’t think so, he did not seem to realise in the footage.”

“One more day, just to be sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Prompto slid the kitchen tile aside once again on Wednesday, taking a long couple of moments to scan the entire, vast room, eyes settling on that white box, still sitting innocently on the other end of the bench. Its shiny black eye stared right back at him.

It didn’t do anything else.

With a small sigh and a shake of his head, Prompto finished pushing the tile aside and slid down to the bench, replacing it seamlessly behind him. He wasn’t about to let a weird purring box get him all scared forever, he had shows to watch.

Pulling his grappling hook from his makeshift belt, he made for the stove top, dutifully ignoring the soft buzzing noises of the box.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck! There he is!”

“What? Noct give me my phone.”

“Specs, turn the car around!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Prompto flopped back against the nearest couch cushion, not even bothering to detach his hook from the fabric just yet. Hauling himself up on to the couch was always a bit of a chore, but that was usually where the remote was haphazardly tossed, so it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

Oh well, it was sure as hell worth it in his opinion. 

Stretching his legs out with a soft sigh, he reached out and thumped the power button on the remote, grinning when the screen powered up to dump him right in the middle of a new episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Gladio says he’s almost here.”

“Geez hope the little guy doesn’t get too scared by us.”

“...I worry that this may be a huge mistake.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The things they did in this show were beyond ridiculous, but utterly hilarious, it almost made humans seem completely harmless. On the screen, the weren’t so big, they felt closer to his level. Closer to him.

It was a clever illusion, albeit one that wasn’t intended.

~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s probably gonna run as soon as we open the door, Noct, you ready to warp? We’re only gonna get one shot at this.”

“You know it.”

“We will attempt to talk first.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It boggled his mind that humans could create so much yet be so destructive. They’re morbid curiosity alone could kill him, yet here he was watching some dumb human show about cooking where one of the contestants was standing in a pit of hundreds of multi-coloured balls.

The disparity was ridiculous, yet oddly charming. It made him hopeful, in a way, hopeful that maybe not all humans would seek to bring his kind harm.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Iggy, you know there’s no fuckin’ way he’s just gonna sit there and have a chat with us.”

“Come on Specs, I don’t like it either but… if we want to communicate with him we at least have to make sure he’s around long enough to hear it.”

“Just… please be gentle, he’s going to be terrified.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The click of the front door opening echoed down the hall like a gunshot and Prompto felt his heart plummet straight through the floor.


End file.
